A Shattered Oath
by horseyfan
Summary: When Sally loses her parents in a plane crash she doesn't know it is due to Zeus' anger that a son of Poseidon was on board. Poseidon only wants to make things better for her but he ends up in over his head.


"Mommy, Daddy, please don't go. I saw it again." Sally pleaded.

Her uncle, Rich, rolled his eyes muttering under his breath "How do you expect me to deal with this crap?" Laura was heartbroken to be leaving her daughter for the next two weeks. This was the Jacksons first time leaving their daughter for more than a day. Laura's brother-in-law Rich had agreed to watch Sally but the arrangement didn't sit well with her. She knew that Sally had heard her uncle's remark, her daughter may be imaginative but she didn't miss much. Rich didn't give Sally enough credit, her daughter was only five, but Rich disliked kids and people in general. Laura put up with him for her husband's sake, but his gruff manner made Laura uneasy and she wasn't sure how he and Sally would get along. _It's only for a couple weeks_ Laura reminded herself.

It had started off as a game, Sally would point to a plane and say "Look, it's like the flying horse on my backpack" and Laura would smile and joke along. But Sally insisted she was telling the truth and now reported seeing more than just friendly, magical animals. Lately Sally had been frightened to go near the playground at their apartment complex. She claimed to have seen a creature there. She said it was not a dog, or a cat, but that it was scaly and the size of the kitchen table. Before that she was interested in talking to the college kid in apartment C239 because she claimed he owned a sword and had used it to save a kid her age from "a lion monster." Laura and her husband, Jim, had been concerned because the kid had a reputation for being a troublemaker and a partier. Sally said he was nice "He called me a mortal what does that mean?" she asked Jim once. Her husband had been forced to tell Sally not to bother the kid again then and stressed to her the importance of avoiding strangers.

Laura figured this whole overactive imagination was due to Sally's love of stories. Reading books as a family had become the Jackson family's favorite way to spend time together. It wouldn't surprise Laura one bit if Sally grew up to be a famous author with the unique way her daughter viewed the world. People like Rich might not understand it, but Sally was strong and not afraid to stand up for herself and do things her own way even at such a young age. Laura was one proud mother.

"We have to go or we'll miss our flight. Daddy needs to go to this business conference, it's important for his job. He works hard because he loves you." Laura said, bending down to kiss her daughter goodbye.

"We'll be back before you know it, be good for your Uncle Rich." Jim added hugging Sally.

"Love you guys." Sally mumbled with a small, brave smile. Sally waved as they walked out the door, and hailed the cab that would take them to JFK airport.

Laura had no way of knowing that would be the last time she ever saw Sally, that it was the last conversation she would have with her daughter.

Nothing about the rest of the day had seemed noteworthy. The Jacksons got to the airport on time, their flight left on schedule, and before they knew it they were on their way to Jim's conference. The plane wasn't crowded. Jim and Laura were the youngest passengers and the only couple. The others sat off on their own and read magazines or watched the world below them. The man in the row next to Laura and Jim did neither. He looked to be in his fifties, with gray hair and sea green eyes that he kept downcast. He was sitting alone, in the middle seat, as though to avoid seeing out the window and so not to be approached from the aisle. The look in his eyes was a little crazy, even the Stewardess tried to avoid him. When the lightning storm began the Laura had to admit it was both frightening and beautiful, but the man started shouting "I knew better, we're all dead. Didn't think he had it in him to kill everyone else on board. Ha! This is pathetic. It won't do him any good, changes are coming it's just too bad I won't be here to see 'em." Everyone on the plane shared the Jacksons look of discomfort. And the man didn't lighten up when the past the turbulence. He maintained his grimace, like he still believed he had a death sentence and when the plane went down he was the only one who didn't panic. He turned to Laura and Jim, who were completely distraught for Sally's sake, and simply said "I'm sorry" like these things were in his control but Laura wasn't scared of him anymore.

Laura was sorry herself, she felt like she had condemned her daughter to a miserable life. There was no one who would look after her properly. Rich wasn't a replacement for Sally's parents. That poor man wanted to live the bachelor's life. Why did Laura even come along in the first place? Laura knew living with the idea of Jim dying alone was unacceptable but this was worse, it was unimaginable.

. . . Poseidon was furious. No, that was an understatement. There were no words for the rage he felt at this moment. Zeus had crossed a line. Poseidon had understood all those years ago when he first agreed to the oath that the kids who were not yet sixteen were an unacceptable risk so he had looked the other way, after all Zeus's own children were to be removed as well. But this was different. Harold was 52, he was not a risk to anyone, and he had been faithful to his father, there was just no reason for him to be murdered.

As he stormed into the throne room of Olympus it didn't surprise Poseidon to see his younger brother sitting calmly, as though he didn't know the reason for the visit, as though it meant nothing to the younger god that he had needlessly murdered his brother's son. "Zeus, if you think for a second that I will tolerate you picking off the last of my children then you are sadly mistaken. I have been more than fair but that is enough! Two can play at your game. See what happens next time one of your offspring steps foot near a beach." Poseidon seethed.

Zeus didn't have the decency to acknowledge his brother's threat. In an irritatingly calm manner Zeus addressed Poseidon, who was now looming right in front of him with a death grip on the trident in his hand "Don't pretend your son was so innocent. He had no respect for the gods and therefore was a danger. I don't need to remind you these are uncertain times, any child of yours who is so gravely lacking in judgment needs to be eliminated. He was the one with the audacity to enter my domain after daring to insult this entire family."

"Oh _he's_ the nervy one. So sorry he was traveling to see his sick cousin. What a horrible act of hubris. You're right, Zeus, better to slaughter a plane full of people because he opted out of taking the bus. What about the mortals? Did you even think about that?"

"An unfortunate price that had to be paid to ensure the security of the Western world. And you know this demigod of yours was rustling feathers, being mindful of you alone isn't enough anymore Poseidon, all the gods need to be treated right. If we lose hold of the half-bloods we lose hold of everything."

"The prophecy isn't about a 52 year old man!" Poseidon finally got the pleasure of a response out of Zeus, at the mention of the prophecy the king of the gods' eyes hardened "Even you ought to be able to grasp that concept." Poseidon continued. "There was no reason to cause so much suffering due to one disgruntled demigod. I could have done the same to one of your heroes hundreds of times but I was gracious, I spared them, and they were not the most humble of worshippers either. Everyone makes a poor choice here and there. I take this decision to kill my son personally. I have a feeling you knew I wouldn't take this lightly."

"Things are different now, I truly wish that it did not have to be this way but for all your shouting you can't tell me that you would have done any different in my place." Zeus snapped. From Zeus's tone Poseidon knew the conversation was over, the tensions between Poseidon and his brothers were higher now than they'd been in a couple millenniums. The time of the prophecy was drawing closer and all the gods could sense it. The minor gods went quiet and withdrew from the Olympians, even the nature spirits were becoming increasingly restless, Ares had this gleam of anticipation in his eyes. And just the other year Dionysus had even been sent to monitor the situation at Camp Half-Blood on bullshit charges. It was setup as simply a punishment but Poseidon didn't buy that. Honestly who hadn't slept with an off-limits nymph here and there? Poseidon had been punished by Zeus before, but doing hard labor building a wall was different than sending the one Olympian who had actually been born a demigod over to the camp. And there was the small fact Poseidon had done something a little more drastic than party too hard. Yet it was clear to Poseidon the more Zeus continued his paranoid attempts to prevent the day of the prophecy from arriving the deeper into denial he fell.

It was aggravating to watch. The prophecy had said Olympus could be preserved but at the rate things were going now that option seems increasingly less likely. So naturally Poseidon still was fearful of the prophecy himself, and this was why he had been cautious since he first heard those words, but now he was angry too. The plane crash was an incident he wouldn't forget. Things were escalating, Poseidon couldn't remember the last time that restrictions had been so strict and such extreme measures had been taken. He had looked into the aftermath of the crash. All of few the passengers in the plane had been older and their children grown if they even had any, or single. There was just one exception, a middle-aged couple that had a young daughter. The one person who would greatly suffer from Zeus' latest injustice was an innocent five-year-old girl named Sally Jackson.

Poseidon felt bad for Sally just as he felt bad for himself. He made a promise to himself then and there that at the right time he would personally get involved. No, he hadn't caused the damage but he felt that being the only one who knew and cared that he should try to right thing somehow. He intended to try to relieve the pain and suffering this poor girl was feeling due to the gods, demigods, and the whole prophecy situation little did he know then how much worse he would make things. And yet in the end she wouldn't have traded it for anything.


End file.
